Mia and Emily returned to where Kevin and Mike were still tending to Jayden's wounds.

"Antonio... he gave up his morpher," Mia said, breathless from the urgency of their mission.

The weight of Antonio's decision hung heavily in the room.

She placed the samurai morpher in Jayden's hands, a symbol of hope that they refused to let go.

"We can't let him do this," Kevin said, his voice firm. "He's part of the team."

"Yeah, but how can we convince him of that if he won't even listen?" Mike's frustration mirrored Antonio's, though it was directed outward, not inward.

Emily knelt beside Jayden, her gaze soft. "We need to remind him of why he chose to be a Ranger in the first place. It wasn't just about fighting; it was about believing in something bigger than himself."

"Right now, he believes he's a danger to Jayden, to all of us," Mia pointed out, her voice tinged with worry.

"And he's wrong," Kevin asserted. "We've all made mistakes, but we've learned, grown stronger."

Mike nodded. "We just need to help him see that."

1 Week Later:

"I should've seen it coming," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, yet dripping with sarcasm. "Gold Ranger, defender of the weak, protector of the innocent—except when it actually matters."

Antonio slumped against the cool, impersonal wall of the motel room, the starkness of his new reality sinking in.

The Octozord's chitters from earlier echoed in his mind—a sound that once symbolized unity and purpose but now seemed to mock his self-imposed exile.

The Shiba House, with its warmth and camaraderie, felt like a universe away.

Here, in this nondescript box of transience, Antonio was just another face, another story of what could've been.

The Gold Ranger no more; just Antonio, the guy with too much guilt and a sharp tongue.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand, and with a resigned sigh, he picked it up.

The namer long lit up with Mia's name. He let it ring, Once, twice, thrice—each ring a hammer blow to his crumbling resolve.

Finally, he answered. "Antonio's Pizzeria, we've got the cheesiest apologies and guilt-ridden toppings you can find. How may I disappoint you today?"

"Antonio, cut it out," Mia's voice, tinged with frustration and worry, crackled through the speaker. "We're all worried about you. You can't just walk away from who you are."

"Who I am? Oh, you mean the guy who nearly got Jayden barbecued? Yeah, I remember that guy. He's a blast at parties," Antonio retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Stop it! This isn't you talking; it's your fear," Mia shot back. "We're a team, remember? We win together, we lose together, we—"

"—almost get our leader turned into a kabob together. Yeah, got it," Antonio interrupted. He could hear Emily in the background, her softer voice attempting to cut through the tension. "Antonio, please, come back and talk to us."

There was a pause, the kind filled with words left unsaid, feelings too complex to voice over a simple phone call.

And then he hung up, the silence afterward louder than any conversation.

The Octozord, overhearing the conversation, had seemed to understand, its mechanical noises almost sounding concerned.

Antonio had sighed that time. "Yeah, I'm fine. now just go get some rest, alright?"

Meanwhile:

"See Jayden I told you it was impossible to get him back." Mia said as she sat next to Jayden who was half way through recovering.

Jayden looking down at Antonio's morpher and his own, a memory of Antonio teaching Jayden how to use his symbol power came to his mind.

Kevin's brow furrowed. "We can't just leave him out there alone. He's one of us."

"And he's hurting," Emily added softly. "But how do we help someone who doesn't want to be helped?"

"We give him time." Mike, ever the optimist, chimed in, "And we let him know we're here when he's ready."

"Mike thats no answer we have to go after him, we wont just let this go on any longer!" Mia shouted but Jayden simply shouted.

"Enough all of you!"

The others fell silent the moment those words escaped the leaders lips.

"Mike's right, we'll give him some more time." Jayden defended the green ranger as the others looked a their leader surprised "besides we've faced Nighloks and all sorts of crazy creatures. We can handle a stubborn fisherman."